NOM

I know this sounds strange but I am a firm believer in basic Christian principles, does anyone have any idea if there is a small percentage of mormons who believe similarly to me that hang on in the church for friends or family ? I call myself Christian mormon unable to leave the church for family reasons. I think this could be an interesting discussion. Thanks

When I determined the mormon truth claims were false I wanted to go this direction of "just Christian"; so I started getting more into the Bible NT, studying Jesus from a non-mormon POV. But then I began to wonder about the credibility and historicity of the bible or any other scripture/religion. After taking a deeper dive into that material it unraveled quicker than BOM and mormon truth claims. So I went all the way over to Atheism and stuck with just pure science and research for a while, which was quite enjoyable. I've since explored more of my own existence in the universe within my own mind through meditation and such and I've taken about 10% off of the atheism to "I don't know". I did find that my moral compass is just fine without any religion at all and I've never felt more happy with my life than I am right now. I took a while to get out of that false "plan of happiness" (where someone tries to tell you how to live your life) and into the area of "I just don't know and I don't think anyone else does either." but I like it better than anywhere else I've been.

I don't know where you'll land, but keep an open mind and I really hope you navigate your way through your transition without too much angst.

I went to lunch with Grant Palm a couple of times, before he passed from cancer last year. He found a deep spiritual connection to Jesus after he left the mormon church and managed to get to where you are or want to be. Check out his books if you haven't ready any of them; I have a lot of respect for that guy.

Yeah, I'm one of those. I've been actively attending the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for 8 years as a non-traditional believer. Basically, I've believed generally in Jesus and the Bible, but continued to hold callings and perform priesthood ordinances and etc. 8 years is a long time. I've just been quiet in church. Really quiet.

However, I really want to be Catholic now, so... I'm plotting my exit from Mormonism and my entrance into Catholicism. I'm trying to make the transition without causing family drama but that's just basically impossible. LOL.

That would reasonably describe me. I am hanging onto Mormonism simply for family and friends. This is not something that would be a welcome discussion in your average ward. The LDS church simply cannot and does not let their members simply be "Christian". It seems that the LDS church operates by being "Christian Extra". All those teachings about Jesus are simply not good enough so they have to add the temple and plenty of other trappings to take up your time and attention.

Church your own way!

Do normal Christians wear funny underwear prescribed by their religious leaders and rituals?

I like the idea of ritual and costumes, just not in the form of sacred special underwear.

Perhaps we’ve been doing it wrong all these years and should be wearing our garments on the OUTSIDE of our clothes!

Red Ryder wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 06, 2019 10:27 am

wearing our garments on the OUTSIDE of our clothes!

My dad used to say, that his grandpa used to say, that during the early days of life in Utah, the natives were OK with the Mormons, but saw other white men as enemies. So if you were off in “Indian territory” the men would wear their garments on the outside to signal to natives that they were the good guys. I have no idea if it was local to one area, or if there is any truth to it.

Corsair wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 06, 2019 9:47 am

That would reasonably describe me. I am hanging onto Mormonism simply for family and friends. This is not something that would be a welcome discussion in your average ward. The LDS church simply cannot and does not let their members simply be "Christian". It seems that the LDS church operates by being "Christian Extra". All those teachings about Jesus are simply not good enough so they have to add the temple and plenty of other trappings to take up your time and attention.

^this but I would say just “extra”. Once I didn’t believe I started trying to figure out how to raise the kids going forward. What morals and qualities did I want to teach..... and felt like even if Christ wasn’t real, what we revere about him is good-loving, serving, accepting, giving to others. I see such a lack of these attributes in Mormonism I now see why, in addition to our weird stuff, Christians don’t think we’re Christian. Which used to make me feel very defensive.

Corsair wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 06, 2019 9:47 am

That would reasonably describe me. I am hanging onto Mormonism simply for family and friends. This is not something that would be a welcome discussion in your average ward. The LDS church simply cannot and does not let their members simply be "Christian". It seems that the LDS church operates by being "Christian Extra". All those teachings about Jesus are simply not good enough so they have to add the temple and plenty of other trappings to take up your time and attention.

This.To me, the covenant path seems like a sales pitch to make people buy into the extra “bells and whistles “ of Mormonism.

I recently read the phrase "religious, but not spiritual" somewhere, and realized that this might describe me to some degree. I still maintain a connection to the Mormon community and I still follow a lot of the rules, even many of the arbitrary Mormon-specific ones.

But I can't seem to make room for the supernatural and any type of spirituality at the moment in the way I look at the world.

Realizing that probably no two people share an identical list of "basic Christian principles," I still value such principles as I see them. Perhaps out of habit to some degree.

And what is a Christian belief going to get you that you can not do on your own. If you want to be a good person just do that. Why add the extra effort to conform to some pre determined belief system.

If you are looking for a community of people that is a different thing. You would have to adopt common beliefs to fit in.


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If there is such a thing as a loving God, seems like they would be no respecter of persons or organizations or books, giving the same resources to everyone through all time (ie - everyone has a conscience, that is all you need?). As nice as it is to belong to a group, I just cannot see any one group being any better than another. The UU's are nice, although the services in my area are very secular, and not quite as spiritual as I would like...

Perhaps all religious groups are perfect enough to take you part of the way, and imperfect enough to leave individuals on their own two feet for the last chunk... no borrowed light and all that?

I have noticed over the years that some Mormons, in talks and testimonies, speak ONLY about Joseph Smith, the current PS&R and the Book of Mormon, and NEVER about Jesus, while a small subset ALWAYS talk about Jesus and NEVER talk about the Mormon-exclusive stuff. This leads me to believe that there is at least a small population of Mormons who are primarily Christian but just happen to be Mormon. Small is probably the operative word here.

Hagoth wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 07, 2019 11:11 am

I have noticed over the years that some Mormons, in talks and testimonies, speak ONLY about Joseph Smith, the current PS&R and the Book of Mormon, and NEVER about Jesus, while a small subset ALWAYS talk about Jesus and NEVER talk about the Mormon-exclusive stuff.

This is where it gets weird in general conference. I see way too many of the speakers earnestly referencing the words of our beloved prophet, even President Russell M. Nelson. It starts to sound like a loyalty test of leaders. It's not that anyone is giving a bad talk (with exceptions). But, the constant referencing of the rather prosaic policies of Nelson would sound more at home within a conservative corporation. References to Jesus and basic Christian teachings are dangerous because somebody just might decide that they can follow Jesus more effectively by "giving their alms to the poor" rather than to the legally authorized men in legal leadership of their congregation. Jesus has to be kept inside a Russell Nelson shaped fence.

I really like the concept and teachings of Jesus. Love thy neighbor. Love yourself.
I feel like Mormonism has ruined Jesus for me. You can’t just love people and follow Christ’s teachings. There is a whole bag of cultural shit you have to pack around with it.